KARACHI - Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Thursday gave 48 to 72 hours deadline to the criminals to surrender and warned that the government will start door to door search operation in Lyari at the end of the deadline.
Speaking at a Press conference at Chief Minister House Sindh alongwith the Chief Minister  Syed Qaim Ali Shah, he said that we would torch the homes of the criminals, if arms and rockets found in the search action. He said that 90 per cent people of the Lyari are innocent and peace loving ,adding, that 10 per cent criminals controlled the entire Lyari area for their vested interests. He ruled out the impression that Rangers are not interested in the action against criminals in Lyari saying that nobody has formally contacted the Rangers to participate in the action in Lyari.  ‘Rangers work under the Federal government and provincial government has not requested the Federal government to deploy the Rangers in Lyari’, he stated. He said that Rangers will now also participate in the operation against criminals in Lyari and set up the check posts in Lyari areas to control the situation. He said that the criminals would not allow to escape from the Lyari to Hub in Balochistan stating that the government has set up check post in Lyari and Hub city to foil the criminals attempt to escape.
He informed that the terrorists of Balochistan Liberation Army, outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba, Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi were also present in Lyari. Rehman Malik said that the criminals using rockets, hand grenades and heavy machine guns are not innocent saying that somebody had provided this heavy ammunition to the criminals. He said that more than 22 criminals were arrested by the police in the operation in Lyari stating that these criminals were involved in extortion, target killings and kidnapping for ransom in the metropolis.